President Obama

[blueskyblue]

Maybe they should try arranged accidents.

I agree. "Indefinite Preventive Detention without trial" is human rights violation.

[Andrew]

Barack Hussein Obama: US "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world"

Does Obamas foreign policy involve his middle name?

[chatfsh]

I don

[Edric O]

Still, Obama is anxious to court the favor of the Muslim world, so it will be interesting to see how he responds to the demand for an apology.  After all, Ahmadinejad has stated that unless Obama apologizes, there is nothing left to discuss between the two countries.  Wow.

Makes sense. Ahmadinejad wants the US to be an enemy. He needs the US to be an enemy. His entire political career depends on it. So he will grasp at any straws, exaggerate the slightest insult, do whatever he needs to do to avoid being friendly to the US.

[Edric O]

By the way, here's a YouTube clip of Bill Maher summing up most of my own feelings about Obama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWulnfog20c

[chatfsh]

By the way, here's a YouTube clip of Bill Maher summing up most of my own feelings about Obama:

Well, it has been said that Obama is quite the narcissist and now he has the world stage to completely indulge his raging egomania.

So

[Edric O]

So

[chatfsh]

Yet oddly enough, those on the right are on the verge of suffering brain aneurysms because they are under the impression that Obama is operating under the influence of the liberal, socialist radicals and will bring this country to utter ruin.  

Seriously, much of the far right is torn between a sense of bitter resignation and a need to call for revolution.  As things stand, I think that both camps are to the extreme.  I fall somewhere in between, meaning for me, conditions

[Edric O]

Yet oddly enough, those on the right are on the verge of suffering brain aneurysms because they are under the impression that Obama is operating under the influence of the liberal, socialist radicals and will bring this country to utter ruin.

Do not pollute the sacred name of socialism by association with the worthless filth of liberalism! ;D

Just kidding, of course, but socialists do indeed object (sometimes very strongly, as in my case) to being associated with liberals. The way it is used in Europe and much of the world, the word "liberalism" refers to our hated ultra-capitalist enemies. The way it's used in the United States, it refers to people with good intentions but ineffective solutions and badly in need of a spine transplant.

And people who think Obama is even remotely aware of our existence, much less operating under our influence, need to stop drinking their kool-aid and take the time to learn what we actually stand for. I use the term "we" much more loosely in this case than usual, because "left-wing radicals" are not anything like a united group. There are some people out there who are "left-wing radicals" in both their own opinion and the opinions of others, yet whom I consider to be hopeless fools that I want nothing to do with. But at least they tend to have good intentions.

(normally, I use the term "we" to refer specifically to communists and other revolutionary socialists, who are only a subset of what you might call "left-wing radicals")

Seriously, much of the far right is torn between a sense of bitter resignation and a need to call for revolution.

I know. They are delusional. Obama will change nothing.

Certainly, if they are on the far right, they must be unhappy with the present state of affairs anyway, but they are delusional to think that Obama will make much of a difference.

As things stand, I think that both camps are to the extreme.

You think Obama is extreme!? There is a whole world of politics much further to the left than he is. And I'm not even talking about us communists, who are admittedly on the fringe right now. I'm talking about mainstream politics around the world.

I fall somewhere in between, meaning for me, conditions

[Andrew]

Obama administration officials, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, are crafting language for an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations.

Sigh.

Obama implores Senate to pass climate bill

I don't know much about this, but it sounds like the carbon tax Liberals in Canada tried to implement and got in trouble.

The Republicans and lots of others are saying it is the largest tax increase in history.

Obama said the bill would create jobs, make renewable energy profitable and decrease America's dependence on foreign oil.

Quite frankly taxing the hell out of fossil fuels (pollution) is the only solution to lots of problems. Gas in Europe costs twice as much as in USA, yet Europe seems to have survived the past 30 years. I only hope that Obama doesn't start spending money and giving it away in a "reduce pollution" bailout.

oh noes gas prices are gonna increase, how am I gonna pay to fill up my hummer!!

Guess what, you don't need an SUV or big truck to pick your kids up at soccer practice, or pick up a shopping cart full of groceries.

Although Obama did promise to not increase taxes for 95% of Americans. Of course they are consumption taxes, more fuel and stuff you use the more you pay. Worst part is corporations having more taxes and will simply pass it off to consumers. Although good corps will reduce pollution, and be better off. Reduce costs, eliminate unstable oil prices, you will know exactly what your costs should be in future.

[chatfsh]

Obama implores Senate to pass climate bill

I don't know much about this, but it sounds like the carbon tax Liberals in Canada tried to implement and got in trouble.

The Republicans and lots of others are saying it is the largest tax increase in history.Quite frankly taxing the hell out of fossil fuels (pollution) is the only solution to lots of problems. Gas in Europe costs twice as much as in USA, yet Europe seems to have survived the past 30 years. I only hope that Obama doesn't start spending money and giving it away in a "reduce pollution" bailout.

Many feel that the climate control bill will further damage our economy by hiking taxes on energy consumption and raise the cost of doing business which will result in even more companies going overseas creating more job destruction.  Obviously, our economy can hardly stand any additional deterioration.  In light of the recent decline in temperature, politicians are asking the scientific community to provide irrefutable proof that mankind is causing the global warming as opposed to a change in the solar cycle.  Even though the consensus amongst scientists around the world is that mankind is causing the global warming, they were unable to provide irrefutable evidence.  Before congress delivers another shock to the economy via the climate control bill, they want to make sure they

[Edric O]

Many feel that the climate control bill will further damage our economy by hiking taxes on energy consumption and raise the cost of doing business which will result in even more companies going overseas creating more job destruction. Obviously, our economy can hardly stand any additional deterioration.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: We should not tolerate having the economy held hostage by companies who threaten to move overseas if their demands are not met.

[Andrew]

Isn't the USA being held hostage by oil companies doing whatever they want with oil prices, and making obscene profits?

renewable energy is more expensive, but at least you know what your costs are, and they stay fixed, and you are in control. Don't need to invade any countries to secure wind or solar power. Difficult for terrorists to target wind turbines and solar panels on every house. Distributed power would be nice.

And the auto companies build fuel efficient cars for europe. So they already have designs and stuff built, they just need to start making them here.

[chatfsh]

I agree that corporations should not be able to hold the government hostage or prevent it from enacting legislation that will truly benefit this country.  Going green is the right thing to do, for a number of reasons.  We should definitely work toward that goal in a balanced and methodical manner.  This is particularly important when considering the economic quagmire that we currently find ourselves in.  It would behoove us to act with prudence and consider all the data available before making decisions that will further cripple the economy.  

For instance, allegedly the EPA is currently suppressing a report that contradicts or calls into question much of the long held science related to global warming.  The current administration, in its effort to push through this groundbreaking legislation, is failing to take into consideration recent developments and research on the topic of global warming.

The enterprise institute, which released the report by analyst and economist/physicist Alan Carlin, explained that those new developments include the continued decline in global temperatures, a new consensus that hurricanes will not be more frequent or intense, and new findings that water vapor will moderate, rather than exacerbate, temperature.

Other new data indicates that ocean cycles probably are the most important single factor in explaining temperature fluctuations, though solar cycles may play a role as well, the institute said. Moreover, reliable satellite data undercut the likelihood of endangerment from greenhouse gases.

I have not spent a great deal of time researching this topic, so I don

[Sneakgab]

Could provide a straw for those against the bill for sh!tty reasons to grasp at, maybe.

[chatfsh]

Or maybe not.

I say release the findings of the study and let people use sound reasoning and judgment to ascertain whether the study has merit or whether it is full of garbage.  To say that something is full of garbage before reading it is just

[Sneakgab]

Just to clarify: I did not mean that because the potential of straw grabbing might exist if the article was released, that it should not be released.

All I meant is that maybe that's why the EPA censored the article.

Of course, I don't neccessarily think it was a good reason to do so.

(edit)

Seems strange that the government would suppress a report claiming that we don't have to worry about global warming; you would think that they would want anything to help warrant not taking action to prevent companies that aren't very eco-freindly. That has been their typical behaviour for a long time.9 That countries were already discussion/pretending to take action/actually taking action in the 90's (Kyoto protocol) suggests that the majority of scientists by quite a margin were already placing their bets on pollution causing global warming. Yet in all Bill's years and all Bush's years (ust mentioning it for those who think there is a significant difference in the democrats and the republicans) I know of very little legislation in favor of limitations to reduce carbon emmissions (and so you can see that the governments typical behavior is such, and why it is strange that they would want to censor something which would assist them in continuing the policy the seem to desire... or have they had a sudden change in heart?

With the increasing profitability of eco-freindly production relative to non eco-freindly production you could say that their motivation for acting against anything hampering non eco-freindly production is being reduce, but that is no reason to hamper it either.

[Edric O]

Hwi, from the news story you posted:

The institute's general counsel, Sam Kazman, explained its release of the report by saying,

[Andrew]

and, I posted in wrong thread. oh well here is some news on the election that occurred 7 months ago.

Minnesota Supreme Court Rules On Coleman's Appeal: He Lost, Franken Won The Election

[chatfsh]

Hwi, from the news story you posted:

So, err, the EPA isn't "suppressing" anything. They just refused to publish a report written by an outside institute, and as a result the institute had to go and publish their own report. I don't see anything wrong here. Should the EPA have to publish everything that everyone sends to them?

The article specifically states that the EPA is

[Edric O]

The article specifically states that the EPA is

[chatfsh]

Alright, but if you interpret it that way, then the article is simply self-contradictory. The guy from the Enterprise Institute clearly said that they have a version of the report, which they decided to publish themselves. So how is the EPA "keeping it under wraps"?

The

[chatfsh]

The following discussion still pertains to the Obama administration and key legislation that has passed the house and is now facing a battle in the US senate.  However, if it is deemed off-topic, perhaps a new thread on global warming or lack thereof should be started.

It would appear that the scientific community has jumped the gun by claiming that global warming was the fault of mankind, that the debate on the matter was closed, and that any who questioned it were delusional.  Since then a growing number of credible scientists have repudiated such claims and are joining the throngs of scientists who argue that mankind has little to do with the global temperature changes.

The Wall Street Journal and DailyTech recently featured  very compelling articles on the subject.  Here are some of the highlights:

WSJ - The inconvenient truth is that the earth's temperatures have flat-lined since 2001, despite growing concentrations of C02.

DT -No more than anecdotal evidence (claims of cooling temperatures), to be sure. But now, that evidence has been supplanted by hard scientific fact. All four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA's GISS, UAH, RSS) have released updated data. All show that over the past year, global temperatures have dropped precipitously.

Scientists quoted in a past DailyTech article link the cooling to reduced solar activity which they claim is a much larger driver of climate change than man-made greenhouse gases. The dramatic cooling seen in just 12 months time seems to bear that out. While the data doesn't itself disprove that carbon dioxide is acting to warm the planet, it does demonstrate clearly that more powerful factors are now cooling it.

WSJ - Dr. Kiminori Itoh, a Japanese environmental physical chemist who contributed to a U.N. climate report, dubs man-made warming "the worst scientific scandal in history."

The really sad part is that any scientists with dissenting opinions on global warming (namely, that the correlation between climate change and mankind

[Andrew]

Obama Frees Iranian Terror Masters

He released terrorists responsible for hundreds of American soldiers deaths in Iraq.

[chatfsh]

Ahmadinejad demanded an apology from Obama